Leiper’s Fork TN Family Photographer

It was a blissful autumn day to spend outside. <3 The Johnson family was SUCH a pleasure to work with! We spent the “Golden Hour” (just before sunset) out in the woods on the family’s private property in Leiper’s Fork, just outside Franklin, Tennessee near Nashville. It was a PERFECT location for their casual, family-centered photo session. (And of course the dogs and cats wanted to tag along!)

Aren’t these kiddos just ADORABLE?! They should be professional models, in my opinion! And so full of energy and spirit! They had such a great time with us!

Well… the time has come!!! Time to announce the winner of the Nashville Birth Photography giveaway!!

And… well… we couldn’t choose just ONE PERSON from all the entries on our Facebook page… so we had to choose TWO!! Yep, two lucky winners will get to have their birth story captured by our amazing team! So exciting!!!

And for all of our fans who entered this contest… you guys WIN something AMAZING as well!

We are offering 40% off of our Grand Entrance collection, 30% off of our Coming Earthside collection, and 20% off of our Tiny Bundle collection!! WOOT!!! Email us today to book your birth date; we only take a very limited number of births each month, and once these discounts are gone, they’re GONE! Don’t miss out on this INCREDIBLE savings! To snag one of these AWESOMESAUCE discounts, you must book your birth date by April 29, 2015! (even if you’re due after that date)

Well… it’s official!! We’re moving to NASHVILLE , y’all!

We just had to let y’all know… we have relocated! We traded the beautiful paradise of southwest Florida, for the pristine mountains of Tennessee. We love it here already, and cannot WAIT to meet our future clients here in God’s Country! “Take me home… country roads… to the place… I belong…” <3

Why Should I Hire a Professional Wedding Photographer?

(aka, I Am Having A Friend Shoot My Wedding Because She Has A Nice Camera)

So, you’re planning your wedding. Congrats! This is SUCH an exciting time in your life! The dress, the cake, the rings, the flowers, the bridal party, AND of course sealing the deal on spending the rest of your life with the Man (or Woman) of your Dreams!! So much to plan; so much to think about; so many details; so little time! Ack!! Nashville Wedding Photographers Franklin Wedding Photographers Brentwood Wedding Photographers Nashville TN Fayetteville Wedding Photographers Charlotte Wedding Photographers Wadesboro Wedding Photographers Albemarle Wedding Photographers North Carolina NC South SC Tennessee

With all of those details, decisions, and the MONTHS it takes to plan a wedding, there is one thing that many brides and grooms try to save money on.

(Well, there are a lot of things to try to save money on when it comes to weddings…I mean, budgets are super important and they truly do help you determine what your “wants” are versus your “needs”…but there’s one thing in particular that stands out regarding budgeting.)

Homebirth is amazing. Well, ALL births are a miracle… but there is just “something” about homebirths that is just so warm and cozy and comfortable. Maybe it’s because mama and daddy are in their own personal comfort zone. Maybe it’s because when labor starts, they don’t have to pack up the car or the hospital bag. Maybe it’s because their birth support team comes to THEM, instead of the other way around. I don’t know for sure… but there is something special about homebirthing.

As the preferred birth story photographer in Nashville, I was on call for a homebirth / waterbirth. I had met with this mama and daddy, along with their adorable toddler, during a number of pre-birth consults, just like I do with all of my clients.

Garrett Speer & the Band – Country Rock Music Artist

Garrett Speer Band Fort Myers Florida Country Rock Music Artist of Southwest Florida

Garrett Speer is a country music artist, born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida. He has recently relocated to Nashville, TN to pursue his dreams.

His music style blends modern and classic country with rock inspirations.

Garrett has grown up in Southwest Florida. He started playing music at a young age, and began to express his talents in the worship band at the church he attended. Through years of playing for the church, he cultivated and honed his talents. During high school, he independently managed a rock band with some of his friends and family members, playing several shows, including larger events such as ‘Night of Joy’.At 21 years old, he began his career as a country music artist. His country music style takes influence from his rock origins, and he is able to blend traditional and modern country through the element of rock.

Interested in booking Shay Bunch Photography for your live band event photography needs?

Nashville Homebirth Session

It’s time, it’s time!! For the big announcement!!

First, a HUGE “Thank You!!” to all of our fans, friends, and clients who shared and liked our page. It is our absolute honor and privilege to serve each and every one of you, and to share in the memories of your families. We are grateful to have each of you in our lives…THANK YOU for joining us and allowing us to capture your memories.

Please know that even if you didn’t win this time, stay in touch on our Facebook page, as there “might” (wink wink) be another birth session giveaway in the very near future!

We are sooooooo excited to be able to offer a free birth photography session, right here in Nashville, Tennessee! Birth photography is so emotional; so intense; so intimate…these are moments that will never happen again. Every birth is unique. Every baby is a miracle. Every mama deserves to have the memories of the birth of her children captured forever. Every daddy deserves to be part of the memories; to be IN the photos instead of behind the camera, detached from the emotions and happenings. Every family should be able to have photos of the births of each child, to cherish and love and reminisce.

So please, won’t you join us in congratulating the winner of this Nashville homebirth session…

Allison, please email us at Shay {at} eShayPhoto {dot} com to claim your prize!! Again, THANK YOU to everyone who joined in to help make this Nashville homebirth session contest come to fruition! Come like us on Facebook for even more specials and giveaways! Love to you all!

The Birth of Charlie – Nashville Birth Photographer

Let me just start with this: Hypnobirthing ROCKS! As the preferred Nashville birth photographer, I was on-call…

…for a client’s waterbirth at one of the birth centers actually in Cape Coral, FL…and the evening began with a text message from my birth client, which said something along the lines of, “I’m having contractions, but I’m just not sure if this is “it” or not…stay tuned!”

This beautiful mama had planned her baby’s birth so very well…she had her support team in place; her birth plan all set; hypnobirthing education; you name it. She and her husband chose Baby Love Birth Center as the place where they would like to bring their little one earthside. (Baby Love and the staff there are absolutely fantastic, by the way! Go check out their website…after you’re done reading this post.) So, with me being on-call, I already had my birth photography gear charged, loaded, and ready to roll at a moment’s notice. And THANK GOODNESS I did! (You’ll find out why in a minute…)

The hours continued to pass, with an update from mama every now and then. No change; her labor was continuing, and since she had prepared herself SO well with her hypnobirthing techniques, mama was able to remain calm and work with her body through each contraction as it came. Finally, another text came through, with much more urgency this time:

“We’re heading to the birth center!”

I quickly texted back, “I’ll meet you there! You’re doing great, mama! You can do this!” and I hopped into my already-packed car and took off for the birth center. I pulled into the parking lot. There was no one there. The lights were off; no cars screeching into the parking lot (like my husband would be if I were in labor); no signs of an impending birth whatsoever. So I got out my camera and stood outside my car in the parking lot, thinking that I would need to be ready to start shooting when they pulled into the lot (you just never know!).

Nothing was happening. Then…my phone chirped. New text message! I quickly flipped it open and saw the latest update: “Actually we’re going to Gulf Coast Hospital”.

Well, at this stage of the game, that can only mean one thing: BABY ON THE WAY!

Which is a WONDERFUL thing!! I knew the general route mama would be coming, so I knew that if they were going to Gulf Coast instead, after all of the waterbirth plans and natural midwifery care…then that pretty much means baby isn’t going to wait until they get to the birth center to make his debut! So exciting!!! It was almost time!! However, there was one slight hiccup…I was standing in the parking lot of Baby Love Birth Center…and Gulf Coast Hospital was a solid 20-25 minutes away. So back into my car I hopped, making my way as quickly as possible (while obeying all traffic safety laws of course). I pulled into the hospital parking lot, found the entrance for “Women’s Care”, grabbed my gear, and literally ran inside. I knew this was going to be a close birth, IF I even made it on time.

Ran in and eventually found (by the grace of God, a lone gentleman walked into the lobby and pointed me in the right direction…thank you, kind sir!!!) the place I was supposed to be, and went to the nurses’ station. Told them who I was, and the nurse waved me over to a curtained room in triage. And the next image is what I saw when I walked into that room…

I just ADORE the sheer bliss on mama’s face!!!!!!!!

At the end of the day, little Mr. Charlie simply had his own agenda, and he was in a bit of a hurry…and that’s TOTALLY okay! I ended up missing his grand entrance, but as you can see, we DID manage to capture some beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime memories for this amazing family of five.

And if you have any questions about the amazingness of hypnobirthing, this is a great place to start. You can also check out more birth moments on our Facebook page, and keep in touch with us by signing up for our newsletter (we promise, we won’t clutter up your inbox with a bunch of unwanted email!), by going to our website, www.NashvilleBirthPhotographer.com and entering your information at the bottom of the front page. Feel free to check out our birth photography collections while you’re there, too.

Sigh. What a blissful day in the life of a middle Tennessee birth photographer.

One question that I get from my clients and friends is, “I cannot get a handle on organizing digital photos. How do you keep yours in order?”

After a vacation or a significant life-event, like a wedding or a birth (or a summer of them!), you might be like millions of other people around the globe…staring at your computer screen, sorting through hundreds or thousands of photos that were taken. The task of organizing digital photos often seems so difficult…as though no one else could POSSIBLY have THIS many images on their camera. My recent working-vacation to North Carolina was just like that: a client photo session, followed by an evening with my sister at a softball game, followed by an engagement session, followed by a night of watching my Angel-Baby catching fireflies in a meadow. (Imagine the number of pictures we took on our week-long trip!)

Or if you’ve ever looked at your computer folders and asked yourself, “How on earth do I start organizing digital photos?” (this includes vacation photos, kid-growing-up photos, wedding photos, family reunion photos, etc.), you’ve probably felt overwhelmed if there is not much semblance of order. Well, here are some things I have picked up, learned along the way, trial-end-error’d, and taught myself about organizing your digital family photos (well, in my case, digital photos for all my personal files, as well as all of my clients’ photo session files!). Some of this education/experience came from my parents. Actually, my mom is a Professional Organizer (www.TwoShays.com), so my sisters and I have been organizing freaks since we were kids. (I’m sure Mom’s heart sings to hear that!) All of the organization skills we were taught have been used not only in our everyday lives, but also especially in electronic organizing. With the way the world is going with technology moving faster than just about anything else, electronic organization is an absolute must. Now, for photographers like me, it is even MORE necessary…we have client files to keep safely organized, based on type of shoot, date, which family, etc. But…

organizing digital photos is super important for everyone

…who has files on their computer. Whether you keep yours in “the cloud”, on your hard drive, or on external media, you still need to keep them organized if you actually want to know what you have and be able to USE them. So if you have electronic stacks, folders upon folders, or a random college-student mish-mash of digital photos on your computer, this blog post is going to help get you back on track and maybe, just maybe…give you back some of your sanity!

Okay so! Are you ready?

First Step: I recommend an external hard drive of some sort, if you don’t already use “the cloud”.

I say this because if you’re anything like me, and have a TON of photos and documents on your computer, you’re eventually going to start bogging down your computer’s internal hard drive, which will eventually slow down the speed of your system…which you definitely don’t want. I had an old computer, which finally bit the dust after using it for 10 years (yes, TEN! it was a beast), when it finally gave me the Blue Screen of Death. Thankfully, I have a friend whose husband works on computers, so he was able to salvage the hard drive so I wouldn’t lose ten years of photos and memories. But what would I have done without those files? Cried many, many tears over the thousands of images I had lost, that’s what. (Thank goodness I didn’t have any client files on that computer!) So that’s why I think everyone should have a backup option to their internal hard drive.

Second Step: Begin With The Year.

Here’s a quick screenshot of how I have my family files set up, starting with the year (pay no attention to the first folder; I don’t even remember what I put it there for; probably just over-organizing! haha Is that possible?):

I’ve had this particular external hard drive since 2009. It’s only about half full, and still going strong. Also, my files don’t bog down my computer because they’re on an external drive, so my computer is still just as quick as it was the day we got it.

Third Step: Next Comes the Quarter.

Once you’ve gotten your yearly folders sorted like above, then go into each one and add the quarter. I set mine up like this (example of the folder for the year 2013 only; the other years are the same as well):

Fourth Step: Create Dated Folders for Each Event.

Here’s my next group of folders…they are the events that I have photos/documents for, so I named them to relate to the event. This is inside the “3 Jul-Sep 2013” folder above:

The most important thing to note here is that the date comes FIRST in the filename. That way, when you are searching for a particular event later on, then all you really need to know for SURE is the year it was shot in, and the season (fall, winter, etc). That date being first keeps everything in order of when it occurred…which is SUPER nice when you’re looking through your files later. No flip-flopping around, looking for “Aunt Mary’s Reunion – 7-16-13″…it’s already in chronological order if you use the method above. Now for remembering seasons, of course, for me in Florida, our “seasons” are pretty much spring, summer, rain, hurricane…but most parts of the country have winter/fall/etc pics as well. So if you can remember, “Well, that family reunion was when my son Scooter was about 2 years old, so that would have been…2005…and I think it was pretty warm outside because we had the reunion at a local park…so I’m going to start with the 2005 folder, and then check out the spring/summer months.” BINGO!! Now you’re getting it!

aaaaaaand……….. That’s pretty much it!

This image of a North Carolina roadside produce stand was taken by my very talented sister & partner, Katie. Isn’t she fabulous?!

If you’ve just started incorporating these steps into your home computer filing system, it will take a decent while until you get all of your current files squared away. But once you do THAT…all of your future events will be soooooo super EASY to save, edit, utilize, and LOCATE, without having to sift through hundreds of photos to find “the one” you want. Easy peasy!

Now, this is just my OWN method. Other people probably do it differently, and that’s totally cool! In fact, I would love to hear about any extra little tips that YOU might have for organizing digital photos and/or files. Got a fantastic setup at your home or office? I’m all ears! Did this post help you get yourself organized, even a tiny bit? I would LOVE to hear all about it!! Leave me a comment below (I read every one!), or over on my Facebook page (yep, I read those, too).

Oooooo, and I almost forgot to mention…if you need holiday photos for your Christmas cards this year, or just need an updated family photo for your living room, give me a shout today! We’re booking holiday sessions for October this year, to make sure you can get them back in time for your holiday cards and other events. Beach sessions with Santa are always a hit! Come on over and drop me a line on my website, or shoot me an email: Shay {at} eShayPhoto dot com. Can’t wait to hear from you guys! Love ya’s!